Insulation piercing electrical connector



F 13, 1968 L. E. PALMER 3,369,213

INSULATION PIERCING ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed Dec. 27, 1965 INVENTOR Lew/s E Palmer ATTORNEY$ United States Patent 3,369,213 INSULATION PIERCING ELECTRECAL CONNETOR Lewis E. Palmer, Washington, W. Va., assignor to Union Insulating Company, Inc., Parkersburg, W. Va., a corporation of West Virginia Filed Dec. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 516,343 3 Claims. (Cl. 33999) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electrical connector of the insulation-piercing type, including a body member containing a slot in which the insulation piercing members are mounted, and a camcarrying cover member pivotally connected with said body and operable, during movement from an open position to a closed position, to force the conductors downwardly in the slot into electrical engagement with said piercing means.

This invention relates generally to an improved electrical connector of the insulation-piercing type, and more particularly to an electrical connector including cam means for forcing an insulated conductor into engagement with an insulation-piercing element, said cam means being pivotable about an axis spaced from, and normal to the plane of, a slot in which said insulated conductor is mounted.

As evidenced by the U5. patents to Benander et al. No. 2,655,639, Weisberg No. 2,627,537 and Greenbaum No. 2,717,365, it is known in the prior art to provide electrical connectors including cam means for forcing an insulated electrical connector into engagement with an insulation-piercing electrical contact. Generally the cam means are pivotable about an axis contained in a plane parallel with the slot into which the wires are inserted, thus increasing the size and complexity of the connectors. The present invention was developed to provide an improved connector of compact, inexpensive construction that is easily manipulated to effect piercing type electrical connection with the conductors of insulated wires.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector including cam means for forcing the intermediate portion of an insulated conductor laterally downwardly within a slot into engagement with an insulation-piercing electrical contact, said cam means being pivotable about an axis laterally spaced from and normal to the plane of said slot. In the preferred form of the invention, the slot is contained in the external surface of an end wall of a body formed of insulating material, and the cam means includes a cover member pivotable about an axis normal to this external surface. The cover is provided with a cam rib which, upon pivotal movement of the cover from an open position to a closed position relative to the slot, forces the conductor downwardly in the slot. Preferably the cam rib has in longitudinal cross section an arcuate configuration with a radius of curvature extending from the cover pivot axis, said radius of curvature being generally greater than the spacing disprevent pivotal movement of the cover beyond the aforementioned open and closed positions relative to the slot. As an advantage of the invention, the cover is movable to an open position relative to the slot without any disconnection of the connector components. In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, the body is cylindrical and includes an end wall the external disk connected with said body for pivotal movement about an axis eccentric to the central longitudinal axes of said disk and cylindrical body.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end view-of the connector of the instant invention, the cover element thereof being pivoted to the open position;

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the connector of FIGURE 1 connected to a pair of insulated conductors, the cover of said connector being pivoted to the closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are sectional views taken along lines 4-4 and 5--5 of FIGURE 1; 1

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is an end view of the cam rib side of the cover element; and

FIGURE 8 is an end view of the slot-containing end of the connector body.

Referring now to the drawing, the connector includes a cylindrical body 2 formed of a molded insulating material and having at one end an external wall surface 4 containing a slot 6 adapted to laterally receive the intermediate portions of a pair of insulated conductors 8 and 10. The depth of the slot 6 is equal to or greater than the outer diameter of each of the insulated conductors. At its other end, the body 2 contains a bore 12 that receives a conventional threaded shell 14. Electrical contact 16 (FIG- URE 5) is mounted within the shell 14 and is insulated therefrom by insulator 18, as is conventional in a typical light bulb receptacle, for example. Embedded in the body 2 are a pair of laterally-staggered, pointed, insulationpiercing members 20, 22 that extend within groove 6 for piercing the conductor insulation to electrically connect shell 14 and contact 16 with the conductors 8 and 10, respectively.

Extending from the external end wall surface 4 on one side of the slot 6 is a cylindrical projection 26 the center of which is spaced at distance d (FIGURE 8) from the adjacent edge of slot 6. This projection 26 extends within a corresponding bore 28 (FIGURE 7) contained eccentrically within a cover element 30, which in the illustrated embodiment, comprises a circular disk that is also molded from a suitable conventional insulating material. The height of projection 26 is equal to or' slightly greater than the length of bore 28. The cover disk 30 is pivotable between open (FIGURES l, 4 and 5) and closed (FIG- URES 2, 3 and 6) positions relative to the slot 6. When in the closed position, the axis of the cover disk 30 is colinear with the axis of the body 2 as shown in FIG- URE 2. Screw 32, which includes an enlarged head portion 32a adapted to engage the upper surface of projection 26 and a threaded shank portion 3212 that extends within a corresponding threaded bore contained within the body 2, maintains the cover disk 30 upon the projection 26. In place of the screw 32, other retaining means, such as a rivet or the like having an enlarged head portion, may be vature r (FIGURE 7) which originates from the center of bore 28 and which slightly exceeds the spacing distance d between the center of projection 26 (i.e., the pivot axis) and the adjacent edge of the slot. Preferably the radius r equals the spacing distance a' plus about onehalf the slot width. This rib extends within a corresponding groove 36 contained in the end surface 4 of body 2. At one end the rib is provided with an enlargement 38 which cooperates with portions of the body 2 to define stop means limiting pivotal movement of the cover beyond the open and closed positions. Thus, in the open position (FIGURES 1 and 4), the enlargement abuts the outer periphery of the body 2, and in the closed position (FIGURE 6) the enlargement abuts the portion of body 2 adjacent groove 36. On its external end surface diametrically opposite the bore 28 the cover 30 is provided with a knob or projection 40 by means of which the cover is pivoted between its open and closed positions.

In operation, when the cover is in the open position illustrated in FIGURE 1 and the insulated conductors 8 and 10 are inserted within the slot 6 above piercing elements and 22, respectively, pivotal movement of the cover in the clockwise direction to the closed position of FIGURE 2 causes the conductors to be forced downwardly in the groove by the cam rib 34. As a consequence of this downward movement, the pointed elements 20 and 22 are caused to pierce the insulation and to electrically engage the conductors, whereby the conductors 8 and 10 are electrically connected with the threaded shell 14 and the contact 16, respectively.

To remove the conductors from the connector, the cover of FIGURE 2 is pivoted in the counter-clockwise direction to the open position of FIGURE 1, whereupon the conductors may be freely lifted from the slot 6.

The disclosed invention offers the additional advantages that separation of the pair of conductors is not required, and that disconnection of the cover and body elements for insertion of the conductors within the slot is unnecessary. In the event that separation of the conductors is desired, a suitable longitudinal barrier may be formed within the slot.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with electrical connectors of the threaded socket type, the invention is equally applicable for use in connection with many other types ofelectrical connectors, receptacles, plugs and the like. It is obvious that the cam carrying component may be other than a circular disk, and that the configuration of the molded body may be other than cylindrical. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, other embodiments and modifications may be made in the apparatus illustrated and described in the specification and accompanying drawing without deviating from the invention set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an electrical connector of the type including a body member formed of insulating material and having a flat external wall surface containing a first slot for laterally receiving an insulated electrical conductor, an insulation piercing member extending upwardly in said slot for piercing the conductor insulation and for electrically engaging said conductor, and a cover element formed of insulating material and pivotally connected with said body for pivotal movement between open and closed positions relative to said first slot, the pivot axis of said cover being normal to said surface and laterally spaced from said slot; the invention which comprises cam means carried by said cover element for forcing said conductor downwardly in said slot into contact with said insulation piercing member, said cam means comprising an arcuate rib on the under surface of said cover element, said cam rib having a radius of curvature that originates from said pivot axis, the length of said radius being greater than the distance between said ivot axis and the adjacent edge of the slot, the external surface of said body on said one side of said slot containing a groove communicating at one end with said slot, said groove extending at its other end to the edge of the body member, said groove continuously receiving said arcuate cam rib during pivotal movement of said cover element between said open and closed positions.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the pivotal connection between said cover element and said body comprises a cylindrical projection on said body extending normal to said external wall surface, said cover element containing a bore rotatably receiving said projection; and means for retaining said cover on said projection, said retaining means including a threaded first portion extending at least partially within a corresponding bore in said projection, and an enlarged head portion engaging the external surface of said cover adjacent said projection.

3. In an electrical connector of the type including a body member formed of insulating material and having a flat external wall surface containing a first slot for laterally receiving an insulated electrical conductor, an insulation-piercing member extending upwardly into said slot for piercing the conductor insulation and for electrically engaging said conductor, and a cover element formed of insulating material and pivotally connected with said body for pivotal movement between open and closed positions relative to said first slot, the pivot axis of said cover being normal to said surface and laterally spaced from said slot; the invention which comprises cam means carried by said cover element for forcing said conductor downwardly in said slot into contact with said insulation piercing member, said cam means comprising an arcuate rib on the under surface of said cover element, said cam rib having a radius of curvature that originates from said pivot axis, the length of said radius being greater than the distance between said pivot axis and the adjacent edge of the slot, the external surface of said body on said one side of said slot containing a groove communicating at one end with said slot, said groove extending at its other end to the edge of the body member, said groove continuously receiving said arcuate cam rib during pivotal movement of said cover element between said open and closed positions, said arcuate rib including at one end an enlarged portion defining a stop adapted to cooperate with said body to prevent pivotal movement of said cover element beyond one of said open and closed positions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 2/ 1952 Great Britain.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

